Moving stairway handrail protective device



Jarpifi, 1940. w D 2,187,189

MOVING STAIRWAY HANDRA IL PROTECTIVE DEVICE Filed March 25, 1939 Law.WJwL-N INVENTOR BY ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 16,1940

p UNIT D I T PAT ENT orrlee,

q 2,187,189 ov ng STAIRWAY HANDRAIL l PROTECTIVE-DEVICE Leon, Wieder,Bronx, ,N. Y., assignor toOtis Ele-- vatorLompany,v New York; N, Y., acorpora- I i i tiongofNew Jersey Application jMarch -25, 939, Serialams!- (oi. 198,--16) the handrails of moving stairways. l

Moving stairways" are providedhwith nioving handrails for theconvenience of persons using the stairways. Two handrails are provided,one

The invention relatesto prdtective devicesfor,

on each side i of the stairway. These handrails slide on guidessecured'to the stairway balustradthe handrails themselves. Protectivedevicesare provided to prevent the :fing-ers .of passengers from beingcaught between the balustrades and the handrails at the pointsiwhere thehandrails enter the balustrades. These devices are arranged in thehandrail openings of the balustrades. i y 3 It is the, object oftheinvention to provide for each handrail adevice which, if a hand is leftin contact with the handrail while passing around the exitnewelwheehwill be engaged by the hand as it arrives at a certaindistance from the handrail openingto serve as a warning to remove thehand before the handrail openingis reached. e l e g e i One feature ofthe invention is theprovi'sion of such a protective device which willyield upon being engaged by a hand being heldbn the hahdrail. so as toobviate any possibility ofinjury handrail which is of simpleconstruction, reliable in operation and economical to manufacture and ifrom the protectivedevice itself. v 1

Another feature of the invention is the provision of such a protectivedevice which; upon being engaged by a hand held on; the handrail, willbe deflected out of the way but will move into pros tective positionasthe hand is disengaged therefrom. i i

Another feature of 'the invention is the provision of a protectivedevice for a moving stairway install.

Other features and advantages of the invention Will become apparent fromthe specification and appended claims.

In the drawing: V Figure 1 is a view in perspective of the exit and of amoving stairway showing the balustrades equipped with protectivedevicesin accordance with the invention;

Figure 2 is a plan view in the protective device of Figure 1; and

will be described,

section taken above Figure 3 is a detail of the protective device ofFigure 1 as viewed from the .front of the balus- Referring to movingstairway ID, are designated i1 and i2. 'I'hehandrails l3 and M arecarried by the newel Wheeis aroundthe exit end of the stairway Figure l,the balustrades of the through openings l5 in the ends of thebalustrades. These openings are considerably larger than the handrailsand the space is taken up by brushes l6 arranged in the openings andshaped to conform tothe handrails. Protective devices tance'above theopenings. As the construction of the protective device for each handrailis identical, only one of them, say for handrailld In accordance withthe construction illus I! are provided over the handrails a certaindistrated; the protective device comprises a coil spring 20 providedwith acover in the form of aflexible sleeve 2|. The spring and coverextend horizontally across themes of the handrail from a point betweenthe handrail and theouter side of thebalustrade to form a guard. Thestrength of thisspring is such that it normally remains in positionacross the face of the handrail but:

readily-yields when engagedby a hand in contactf with themovinghandrail. One end of the '-spring is secured to an end piece 23 in adepression 24 formed in the end piece. The other end of the spring issecured to a bracket 22 in a similar depression formed on the bracket;The flexible cover 2! for the spring is in the form the, spring. The endpiece 23 is tapped longi- 30 to the end of the spring. This tip, whichis preferably of fiber, is the same diameter asthe outside of cover 2|and is rounded oif.

Thev guard is mounted parallel to the outer surface of the handrail andin close proximity thereto. It is secured to the balustrade bybolt 1 23| extending through bracket, 22 and spacing block 32. This spacingblock may be of a finish and design to correspond or blend with thebalustrade.

Lugs 33 formed onbracket 22 extend into depressions in spacing block 32.This,-togather with the fact that the inner surface of the spacingblock32 is curved to correspond with] the curvature of the balustrading,maintains the guard normally in a horizontal position. The guard issecured to the, balustrade at such point laterally that the guard doesnot extend all the way across the face of the handrail, the tip end of arubber hose of aninternal diameterto" fit 'tudinally to receive a screw28 for securinga tip.

of the guard being back from the side of the handrail as illustrated.

In operation, so long as nothing comes in contact with the guard, itremains in position extending horizontally over the face of thehandrail. However, should the hand of a person using the stairway remainin contact with the handrail until the guard is reached, it strikes theguard, which immediately deflects to obviate any injury to the hand.However, upon his hand being struck, the person instinctively releasesthe hand-- rail and thus his hand is not carried to the the hand, itreturns to its horizontal position across the face of the handrail.

It has been found by observation that about the only persons leavingtheir hands in contact with the handrail as the handrail passes aroundthe newel wheel are small children around four It is preferred,therefore, to positioning of the guard about eight inches above thehandrail opening has been found satisfactory for this purpose, thisdistance allowing ample opportunity for the child to remove his handfrom the handrail after engaging the guard before the handrail openingis reached. The end of the guard being back from the side of thehandrail minimizes the possibility of any clothing being caught by theguard and, asthe tip of the guard has been found satisfactory in actualinstallation.

It is to be understood, however, that the construction of the guard maybe varied considerably and that the positioning of the guard withrespect to the handrail and its distance from Y the handrail opening maybe altered to suit any particular installation. It is intended thatmanyvariations in construction and arrangement of -the protective devicemaybe made within the spiritfand scope of the invention so long as thedevice is mounted so as to engage any hand held on the handrail in ampletime for the hand to be removed before reaching the handrail opening andwill yieldupon being so engaged so as to obviate being a hazard initself.

-What is claimed is:

1. A protective device for a handrail opening in the balustrade at theexit of a moving stairway comprising, an elongated guard, and meansmounting said guard at one end on the balustrade .in position extendingcrosswise over the face of the handrail at a point in suflicient ad.-vance of said opening to permit the hand, upon striking said guard, tobe removed before the opening is reached, said guard being deflectibleso as to move out of the way upon being struck by a hand and beingbiased to protective position so as to return thereto as the hand isdisengaged from the guard. v

2. A protective device for a handrail opening in the balustrade at theexit of a moving stairway comprising, an elongated resilient guard, andmeans mounting said guard at one end on the balustrade with the otherend free and extending crosswise over the face of the handrail and inclose proximity thereto at a point above said 7 opening. handrailopening. As the guard is disengaged byi 3. A protective device for ahandrail opening in the balustrade at the exit end of a moving stairwaycomprising, an elongated coil spring, a cover for said spring, and meanssecuring said spring to the balustrade above said opening and inpositionextending, substantially horizontally over the face of the handrail.

4. A protective device for a handrail opening in the balustrade at theexit end of a moving stairway comprising, an elongated coil spring, aflexible cover for said spring, a rounded tip for one'end of saidspring, and means securing said spring at its other end to thebalustrade above said opening and in position extending horizontallyover the face of the handrail and parallel therewith in close proximitythereto.

5. A protective device for a handrail opening in the balustrade at theexit end of a moving stairway comprising, an elongated coil spring,

a flexible rubber hose forming a cover for said spring, a rounded fibertip covering one end of said spring, and means securing said spring atits other end to the balustrade a certain distance above said openingand in position extending horizontallyacross the face of y the handrailto within a certain distance of the inner side of the handrail and withits cover in close proximity thereto.

6. A protective device for a handrail opening in the balustrade at theexit end of a moving stairway comprising, an elongated coil spring, aflexible rubber hose forming a cover for said spring, a rounded fibertip for one end of said spring of the-same diameter as the externaldiameter of said hose and secured to said one end of the spring inabutting relation with said hose, a bracket secured to the other end ofsaid spring, a spacing block, and a bolt extending through said bracketand block securing said spring to the balustrade in position extendinghorizontally from said bracket over the face of the handrail to a pointwith the tip end short of the inner side of the handrail and with saidspring approximately eight inches above the handrail opening, saidspacing block positioning said spring substantially parallel with theface of the handrail and with its cover in close proximity thereto.

LEON WIEDER.

